Since you mentioned recently starting the Roth, if you have not maxed out your 2020 Roth contribution already you can still do so by Monday, 5/17 since the individual tax filing deadline was extended.
I put some $ into series I bond for the 3.54% inflation rate using funds that were just in a HYSA anyway earning 0.5%
I think a lot of the ETF’s are sector specific, so it depends on which commodities you want exposure to? Oil/gas, minerals, etc. I’d also add that commodities are an area where broad basket/indexing isn’t the greatest idea perhaps… with a lot of miners, drillers, refiners there’s a lot of debt ridden/cash strapped turd burgers you don’t want exposure to. On the advice of my old man last year I picked up a lot of the bigger mining stocks in copper/silver/gold… my copper and silver holdings (FCX, BHP, RIO, SCCO, AG, PAAS, FSM, HL) have all outperformed greatly, my gold miners (GOLD, NEM, FNV, KGC) spiked mid Covid and have fallen off, breaking even or down on most of them. My dad swears I should be allocating into PHYS (~$15) and PSLV (~$10), Sprott’s physical trusts, but I’ve never been a bug and will probably pass on this advice. If stagflation comes to fruition and we have a correction followed by sideways markets I’ll prob double down on my RE investments once the market cools off. I’m holding lots of cash. I think investment properties are the best hedge. Obv not the best market for buyers rn and I realize that’s not as/an accessible option for everyone, but if you can make it happen financially I think it’s the best bang for anyone’s buck.
Seriously though irt to Krugman, TIPS are the most politically agnostic measure of inflation there is - and they are at all-time record highs. Gold and silver used to be the best indicator, but are now highly suppressed and manipulated markets… there are like 250 "paper" ounces traded in the futures markets for every one ounce of physical silver that actually exists and is on hand at the commodity exchanges. The government has made their official inflation numbers a joke (both Repubs and Dems) because they minimize the items in their index that people actually spend their money on… food, gas, utility bills, home prices, rents, lumber, healthcare costs, college tuition, etc. By keeping the official government inflation number low - politicians can get away with borrowing and spending more money. Follow the money, insider trading/sell offs, who’s investing in gold, etc. Listen to what companies are saying in their quarterlies, if you could Google trend search “inflation” it’d be pretty high right now. It’s tough for me to defer to academics/theorists with no real skin in the game, but that’s me… a lucky, privileged, idiot.
I currently have 10% of my paycheck going into my 401k. I'm wondering if some of this could be better allocated elsewhere. My company does a 100% match for my first 3% and a 50% match for the next 2% I put in. I can receive up to a 4% match. Am I better off dropping my contribution to a lower percentage and then put the rest into my brokerage account? I'd be looking at index funds. Or does it just make more sense to keep putting in more than my match into the 401k? Also keep in mind I will do the max for my Roth IRA this year, and for the foreseeable future.
If you plan on the money being for retirement vs other use, the 401k. Generally, you should always fill up tax advantaged space before doing a brokerage account. Unless your 401k has huge fees and horrible funds, then maybe you could consider it. You can never get the tax advantaged space back after the opportunity has passed. The typical advice I've seen: 1. 401k up to match 2. HSA ($3550/$7100) 3. Roth IRA/Trad IRA ($6000) 4. 401k up to max ($19,500) 5. Mega Backdoor Roth ($57,000 total into 401k (including match)) 6. 529 or Taxable And before 5 and 6, if you have high interest loans, I'd consider putting extra to those.
I forgot about the HSA in that recommended order. I need to look at that again. I think I’ve held off because it would increase my already high monthly health insurance premiums.
All depends on your time horizons, personal needs and income levels but I could see arguments for skipping 5 and going to 6 for additional liquidity. $57000 is a lot to tie up annually (again pending your income)
Unless you have the option for rolling it into an Roth IRA. I can't with my plan, so it stays in the 401k. But if you can, I believe you can take out the contributions anytime. And I do some of 5 and 6, since we've been doing 529s since before I could do other things on the list.
I’m putting 40% of my monthly gross income into a combination of 401k/Roth IRA/Taxable Brokerage/HYSA. That’s good right? I really have nothing left to open other types of accounts.
Yes, excellent. I think 15% is the percentage they put out as a target to have a well funded retirement at normal retirement age. Anything over that would increase your retirement funds or move up your retirement date, theoretically, at least.
Good lord, I'd say anyone saving 40% for retirement is going to be completely set (or beyond set) because a) all the savings, obviously and b) you are already used to living on only 60%.
Thanks that’s what I’m trying to do, live in 60-75% or so. To clarify though, 28% is for retirement, the other 12% in savings for more what I would label medium-term expenses. Kids, new car fund, etc.
I'm at 42% of gross into retirement and ~48% when I add in the 529s. That includes company match into the 401k though (6%).
Nice. I forgot to include company match (2% bleh) so that would push me to 30%. My problem is I started so late in life. Well, I started 401k early, but then fucked it all up in my 30's, so pretty much started over at 40. So I need to keep that % as high as I can manage.
Well, saving anything puts you above most of the country. Saving as you are now will set you up well.
You’re way ahead of most people. I didn’t start doing a Roth IRA contribution until my late 20’s. Sometimes I kick myself for that but it isn’t going to change anything.
If you’re saving more than 20% of your salary for retirement you’re doing better than the vast majority of the country
Thanks for helping keep the bar set nice and low for me, guys, that's where I like it. "hey you're doing better than most Americans"
I came to this thread to talk about XL. They have been pretty agressive lately in the EV market and may get a pop with this infrastructure bill. I would think it'd already be priced in, but they're lower than their floor a year ago. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/xl
Very important article here that may help shape the future of your investing strategy https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/05/25/better-buy-dogecoin-vs-the-entire-sp-500/
TMB Real Estate tycoons - do any of you with investment properties use online banks for mortgages? I'm finally going to jump in to my first rental at some point this year and am looking for pros/cons of different lenders. Quick googling brought up several online-only lenders
I’m not a real estate tycoon but I did have good experience with better.com during my last mortgage transaction. I’d use them again.